1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicles, and more particularly relates to a vehicle including a plurality of seats aligned in a width direction of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some vehicles known in the art include a plurality of seats aligned in a width direction thereof and are designed to travel over rough terrain. Among these vehicles are a recreational off-highway vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an “ROV”) and a side-by-side all terrain vehicle (ATV). Such vehicles are provided with an air cleaner upstream of a suction pipe through which air is supplied to an engine. This arrangement aims to prevent foreign matter, such as dust or dirt, from mixing into the air to be supplied to the engine (which will hereinafter be referred to as “suction air”).
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0214933 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,516 each disclose a vehicle including seats, an air cleaner disposed behind the seats, and a cargo bed which is disposed behind the seats and on which cargo is to be placed. The air cleaner is disposed under the cargo bed.
Unfortunately, when the vehicle travels over rough terrain, foreign matter, such as dust, is likely to mix into the suction air, and the amount of dust, for example, contained in the suction air tends to increase. This necessitates frequent maintenance of the air cleaner, which includes, for example, cleaning and replacement of a filter element inside the air cleaner. For this reason, it is preferable that maintenance of the air cleaner is facilitated. However, the vehicle disclosed in each of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0214933 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,516 makes it difficult for a worker to reach the air cleaner because the air cleaner is disposed under the cargo bed. More specifically, a worker has to detach a component such as an outer cover, for example, from the vehicle to reach the air cleaner. This means that a worker cannot easily reach the air cleaner, and thus cannot easily perform maintenance of the air cleaner.